The four-hymn sandwich. It
is a nickname for the structure of music at most Masses in the United States
over the last forty years, perhaps not a complimentary one. You know them: the entrance, offertory,
Communion, and recessional hymns.
You may be surprised to
learn that hymns are not part of the Mass. Before 1965, the congregation might be given
a hymn to sing at one or two places in the Mass, because there was nothing else
for them to do - the priest alone had all the prayers, in Latin, often
inaudibly, and for long stretches of time.
But after the changes of the Second Vatican Council, the texts of the
Mass were suddenly available in the local language - English in our case – but there
was no music for them. Catholics had
always sung the prayers and texts of the
Mass, but in the rush to abandon Latin this practice was lost. So people became accustomed to singing hymns
and songs instead.
These hymns and songs
inserted were from many sources; some old ones both Catholic and Protestant,
and some newly written. Their
suitability for the Catholic Mass, as well as their musical and theological
value, was uneven at best. The reason
the Protestants have so many hymns is that their Sunday worship lacks the
sacramental, liturgical character that marks the Church's worship, so those
hymns, while splendid, do not necessarily enhance the Mass.
Having grown up entirely
in this time of liturgical transition, I have personally experienced almost
every attempt that has been made to apply music to the Mass in English. Some were more successful than others. One of the things that has bothered me since
I was a little kid was the insistence that a communion song be sung by the
people while they are receiving Holy
Communion. It was obvious to me as a
twelve-year-old, and ever since, why so few people would actually sing
then. First, it is a logistical
challenge to carry and read the music while moving toward the Eucharist. Then, having received, it is no longer
possible to sing - it would be the liturgical equivalent of talking with our mouth
full!
The other hymn I began to
wonder about more recently is the recessional. It struck me once I was a priest
celebrant that I didn't know whether I was supposed to leave as soon as the
hymn started or wait at the chair or in front of the altar, so I could sing the
whole hymn, then walk out. You all know
how much I enjoy singing; that wasn't the problem. But it wasn't only a problem for me; people
didn't know what to do. The priest says mass
is over, go - but then, there's more to do!
At the Basilica of the National Shrine, they print a little admonition
to respect their tradition and stay until the hymn is finished. That didn't
satisfy me either. The Mass is truly
over - look in the missal: after the dismissal, the priest and ministers
depart, and that's all there is. Why add
something? It would seem that everyone
else can depart too - though etiquette has always been that the people wait at
least until the priest has left.
I encountered a solution
to both these hymn dilemmas at a friend’s parish in Greenville, South Carolina. Instead of singing during Holy Communion and after
the end of Mass, have one hymn after
everyone has received the Eucharist, before the Prayer After Communion
concludes the Communion Rite. Hands and
mouths are free to sing a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. Then, after the prayer and dismissal (and
perhaps some announcements) it is only a moment before the dismissal and the
true end of Mass - the priest exits, and so can everyone else. There is no conflict about whether to sing or
depart or anything else, only some walking-out music for everyone, called a
Postlude. It is both more practical and
more liturgical.
And best of all, Mass begins
to look more like the Mass and less like a sandwich.
Monsignor Smith
